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Progesterone Allergy
July 22, 2011
Although not very common, allergy to progesterone is not a complete rarity in women. Similar to most cases of allergies, what causes allergies to progesterone is not very clear. However, medical professionals and researchers have come up with two suspects that could be the causative agents that trigger an allergic response to progesterone - an autoimmune condition and allergic trigger caused by effect of progesterone receptors on the immune system. An autoimmune condition is one in which the immune system fails to identify a chemical or enzyme produced by the body as an integral part of its internal physiology, misidentifying it as an invasion of the physical citadel by foreign particle or pathogen. This causes the immune system to launch its immune defenses against the body itself, triggering allergic reactions. In fact, most forms of allergies to otherwise harmless objects are autoimmunity issues. In case of the second cause, the progesterone receptors that are present in leukocytes may cause the immune system to become more sensitive to other objects and can lead the immune system to confuse a familiar particle with something foreign or harmful. Being a steroid hormone, progesterone has the potential of influencing the body's immune responses to various objects. This can also lead to an allergy like condition in the subject, though it is rare.
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